Mild winter and continued exodus of customers forces Centrica into second profits warning in six months

A mild winter and a continued exodus of customers has forced Centrica into its second profits warning in six months.

The British Gas owner also put its three biggest gas-fired power stations up for sale – but will continue to use them if it cannot find a buyer.

The country’s biggest energy supplier ruled out any further price hikes, or trims, this year – the first since 2009 that the group has not demanded more money from its 12m customers.

The warmer winter weather meant gas usage fell by a quarter as households turned down their heating. But the company said it was still bleeding customers, with 180,000 having left this year so far.

This comes on top of a 400,000 loss last year in the wake of David Cameron calling for consumers to boycott the company after a 9.2 per cent price increase.

The power stations up for sale – Langage, Humber and Killingholme – provide more than half of Centrica’s power generation in this country. Despite asking £500m for them, and admitting they lose ‘significant’ amounts of money, the company said it would keep them running at a loss if no buyer came forward.

It wants to free-up money to invest in its ageing gas power stations in order to keep them open for longer.

Problems with its US division, Direct Energy, forced the company into a profits warning last year.

Yesterday it said a deep freeze in the US, where it has 6m customers, hit it with further costs. Gas prices rocketed after the mercury fell as low as -23C in North America in the early months of the year.